Knitting-machine needle



J. C. EGLY.

KNITTING MACHINE NEEDLE.

APPUCATION FlLED MAR. 13, 1920.

1,41 5,822, Patented May 9, 1922.

INVENTOR ATTORNEYS UNITED! STATES JOHN C. EGLY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

KNITTING-MACHINE NEEDLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

. Application filed March 13, 1920. Serial No. 365,412.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, JoHN C. EGLY, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city and county of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Knitting-Machine Needle, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my present invention is to devise a knitting machine needle in which the yarn engaging portions are of any desired or conventional type and wherein novel provision is made for causing the needles to have the proper frictional engagement with the walls of the grooves of the needle cylinder. 1

My invention further comprehends a novel construction of a knittin machine needle in which the needle is provided with a flexible portion 'and is bent in such a manner that it will have the proper frictional engagement with the walls of the grooves in which it travels without in any manneraflecting the life of the needle.

It further consists of other novel features of construction as will be hereinafter fully set forth.

For the. purpose of illustrating my invention, I haveshown in the accompanying drawings, a typical embodiment of my 'invention which is at present preferred by me, since such embodiment will be found in practice to give satisfactory and reliable results.

It is, however, to be understood that the embodiment is typical only and that the knitting machine needle may be differently formed from that shown without departing from the invention.

Figure, 1 represents a side elevationof a knitting machine needle, embodying my invention.

Figure 2 represents in front elevation a portion of a knitting machine needle showing mm clearly the flexible portion thereof.

Figure 3 represents in front elevation the knitting machine needle after it has been bent to the proper form for giving the desired friction.

Figure 4 represents in side elevation a portion of a needle cylinder, with a knitting machine needle embodying my invention in a groove thereof.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in the figures.

Referring to the drawings l designates a knitting machine nedle embodying my invention, the needle being provided with yarn engaging portion 2 of any desired or conventional type, with a shank 3 which terminates at its lower end in a laterally extending butt 4, and with a flexible portion 5 which may be formed in any desired manner and this is preferably formed by making the needle at such por Patented May 9, 1922.

sufficiently theyslide too freely and in the operation of the machine jump up and down, with the result that stitches are dropped and the bars of the needle cylinder injured.

In some cases arising in practice the bars are bent and also broken. In the needles of the prior art the needles have been bent in the body so far above the butt that when the needles are raised upwardly in the cylinder they lean towards-one side or the other, following the side towards which they are bent instead of extending perpendicularly, which is their proper position in the grooves of the cylinder. Due to this leaning of the needle to one side or the other the latches of the needles become sharp and rough by coming in contactwith the sinkers and for this reason the knittedfabric is damaged.

It thus becomes necessary to remove these damaged needles and replace them with new needles, with consequent increase in the cost of manufacture.

In accordance with my present invention, the needles are made flexible in proximity to the butted end and are bent in the flexible part to obtain the required friction and it does not make very much difference whether they are bent a little too much or not quite enough since they work freely in the cylinder at all times and the flexible part will easily give one way or the other. Needles constructed in accordance with my invention will not jump or drop stitches and there is no likelihood of the cylinders or the needles becoming damaged or broken.

'Knitting needles constructed in accordance with my present invention having the peculiar bent portion in proximity to the manufactured since they are practically of as simple construction as the needles now in use.

In so far as I am aware, I am the first in the art to devise a knitting machine needle having the entire portion of the body of the needle in close proximity to the butt of flexible construction and I therefore desire my claims to such features to be interpreted with corresponding scope.

It will be seen that, when the needle is in position in a groove of the needle cylinder owing to the provision of the flexible portion 5 and the manner in which the needle is bent as seen in Figure'3, the flexible pore tion is at all times out of engagement with the walls of the grooves of the needle cylinder, the result of which is that there is no wear on such flexible portion.

It will now be apparent that I have devised a novel and useful construction of a knitting machine needle which embodies the features of -advantage enumerated as desirable in the statement of the invention and the above description, and while l have, in the present instance, shown and described a referred embodiment thereof which will be 1 ound in practice to give satisfactory and reliable results, it is to be understood that the same is susceptible of modification invarious particulars without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention or sacrificing any of its advantages. 7 7

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Let- I ters Patent is:

1. A knitting machineneedle having a flexible portion in proximity to its butt formed by removing a portion of the wall on opposite sides of the needle and bent at the flexible portion to give the proper friction when in use in a needle cylinder.

2. A knitting machine needle having a portionof its body in proximity to its butt of reduced thickness, the opposite walls of said reduced thickness lying within the opposite parallel longitudinal planes running through the opposite side walls of the needle.

JOHN C. EGLY. Wit-memes:

H. S. FAIRBANKS, C. D. MCVAY. 

